The Effects of Overpopulation on Environment

Abstract

From recent studies we know that overpopulation do affects our environment.It frequently causes many types of pollution such as water pollution,air pollution,land pollution,noise pollution.In addition,overpopulation also threat to the biodiversity.To solve this problem,only a sustainable approach toward conserving what currently exists as natural resources could counteract the detrimental effects of overpopulation on the natural world.

Outline

I.Introduction
Thesis statement: human population growth affects to environment
II.Causes water pollution
III.Causes air pollution
IV.Causes land pollution
V.Cause noise pollution
VI.Loss of biodiversity
VII.Conclusion

The Effects of Overpopulation on Environment

“Talking about pollution, nobody’s holy. They who polluted, sinned against nature”(Toba Beta). The problem of pollution has become increasingly widespread and potentially more harmful. The main cause for the increase in pollution is that Earth’s pollution grow larger everyday. Human sometime do something without noticing the impact that will result. They gradually become the enemy who destroy environment. Almost all human activities impact negatively the environment in one form or another, and as human population expands, the damaging effects on the environment multiply. Here are some environmental problems that result from human population growth: water pollution, air pollution, land pollution, noise pollution and loss of biodiversity.

Overpopulation is one of the main reasons causing water pollution. Population growth usually increases demand for water in living, labouring,…In the same time, we release a large amount of rubbish into the environment especially for rivers, lakes,…”More than 95% urban sewage in developing countries is discharged untreated into the nearest water or field”. The main contributors are factories and open mines, discarding waste water with heavy metal, toxic subtances and solid waste, which are virtually impossible to purity. In addition, the situation is even worse when it comes to ocean exploitation. Overfishing changes the balance is coastal ecosystems and decreases fish population. Sometimes it might even lead to extinction of certain marine species. Overfishing also damages coral reefs, because it allows algae to overgrow them.

It turns out that the ocean is “the ultimate garbage dump ” because eventually all of the sewage, sediment from forest clearing, fertilizer and pesticide run-off flow into it. It is important to preserve the ocean, not only because it is an important source of food, but also because it plays a major role in climate regulation. The circulation of cold and warm water protects the earth from extreme temperature fluctuations. In addition, oceans absorbs between 30 and 40% of the CO2 given off as a result of human activity, thus keeping global warming at stake.

Another effect of overpopulation on environment is air population. We know that the population growth means that the human impact on the environment will be more and more. Many things we do affect the air and the climate we live in. For example, burning of fossil fuels such as coal and petrol. It releases a lot of pollutants into the atmosphere like sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide which have various environmental effects such as Greenhouse Effect. The quantity of Greenhouse Effect gases has increased significantly, it’s causing a rise in temperature on the Earth’s surface (Global warming). Besides, everyday human activities such as dry cleaning, filling your car with gas and degreasing and painting operations. These activities add gases and particles to the air we breathe. When these gases and particles accumulate in the air in high enough concentrations, they can harm us and our environment.

More people in cities and surrounding counties means more cars, trucks, industrial and commercial operations, and generally means more pollution. It may cause air pollution by the fumes and exhaust coming from the tail pipe. It will go to the air and when we breathe it in, we could get sick. For instance, in China, air pollution problems are occuring serious. Last July 2009, air pollution has lead to cancer and repiratory disease. It caused 2 million deaths per year in the worldwide. Land pollution is also a common thing and it happens dues to the increasing population.

Population growth results increases the demand for food production. Since the arable land in many of the overpopulated regions is limited, farmers begin to cultivate dry, hilly, nutrient-poor areas that are not very suitable for farming. Exploiting such lands makes them easily susceptible to erosion and loss of nutrients. For example, in search for farmland in Indonesia, peasants have been planting their crops on steep slopes. As a result, almost one half of Java’s land is now in danger of erosion. Globally, the statistics are even more frightening. It is estimated that 1.2 billion hectares of land, approximately the size of Europe, U.S. and Mexico combined, have lost much of their agricultural output capability in the last 50 years. Besides, land can become polluted by household garbage and by industrial waste. In 2010, Americans produced about 250 million tons of garbage consisting of product packaging, grass clippings, furniture, clothing, bottles, food scraps, newspapers, appliances, paint and batteries. That’s about 4.3 pounds of waste per person per day.

There are lots of non-biodegradable waste including containers, bottles and cans made of plastic. Dumping of toxic materials such as chemicals and paints makes the areas surrounding the industries look very fifthy. Although domestic and industrial waste are collected and recycled or burnt incineators, a large amount of rubbish is left untreated. These are then dumped into grounds, leading to land pollution. As well as these pollution, noise pollution is one of the serious damages caused by overpopulation. To serve for human’demand,in the past few years, the rate of automobile manufacturing has increased manifold.

Traffic problems created by these vehicles is an important source of noise pollution. Sound produced by the exhaust systems of trucks, autos, buses, motorcycles, etc. cause a lot of noise. The noise created by a bus or truck is 10-15 times that of a car. Use of diesel which results into high airborne vibration emission is one of the reasons why trucks and buses cause greater amount of noise. Besides, most of us may think of loud assembly lines or construction sites when we think of noise pollution in the workplace, and while these examples definitely apply, regular offices are not immune. With more people packed into busy office spaces, office noise is a common problem. Co-workers who talk, drum their fingers on the desk, or offer other distracting noises can decrease the productivity of those around them without realizing it.

Another problem is home sound. For example, a family with many members would make more noise cluding different sounds like talking, laughing, crying, alarms,… Furthermore, people are surrounded by gadgets and use them extensively in our daily life. Gadgets like TV, mobile, mixer grinder, pressure cooker, vacuum cleaners, washing machine and dryer, cooler, air conditioners are minor contributors to the amount of noise that is produced but it affects the quality of life of your neighborhood in a bad way. The continued increase human population is having negative effect on our biodiversity.

All of the previously described effects of overpopulation on the environment lead to the destruction of the natural habitat of many wildlife species. The natural flora and fauna have been under constant pressure to adapt to a quickly changing environment. Since they have been unable to do so, they have been displaced from their natural ecological niche. The constant clearing of the Amazon forest has had devastating effect on many rare tropical species. It has been estimated that 10% of the species in the region have become extinct. In addition, over-exploitaion is also a large problem for wildlife. For example, every year over 80 million fish are caught for human consumption. Sometimes the way that the fishing is done destroys marine habitats and catches many other marine animals by accident.

On the other hand, to meet the demand of human, thousand of plants and animals are take from our nature habiats everyday to be sold, traded or make into various products including gifts. For example, ivory from elephant tusks, coral, sea turtle shells are popular souvenirs that threaten species other products; medicines can also be made using threatened and endangered animals, tiger bone was offen used to help relieve swelling and paint.

All of the above environmental issues clearly indicate that the natural assets that humans take for granted are in grave danger. Most of the damage on the environment caused by human expansion is long-lasting and in some cases permanent. There is no doubt that the human population will continue increasing and the condition of the environment will exacerbate. Therefore, only a sustainable approach toward conserving what currently exists as natural resources could counteract the detrimental effects of overpopulation on the natural world.

References

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